CYP Now - Work Wise: Numbers game

The smoking ban in Scotland has had a positive effect on the health of children, according to a study by the University of Edinburgh and NHS Health Scotland. The study measured to what extent the smoking ban has affected the level of second hand smoke exposure in primary school children by using questionnaires and measuring salivary cotinine levels (a by-product of nicotine).

Cotinine concentration in non-smoking children fell by 39 per cent on average. However, the most significant falls in cotinine levels occurred among pupils living in households where neither parent smoked (51 per cent) or where only the father smoked (44 per cent).

The study concluded there was "no evidence of increased second hand smoke exposure in young people associated with displacement of parental smoking into the home".

www.bmj.com.

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